Definition

1. Noun:
   • An abnormal or disfiguring outgrowth on the body or a plant: In medicine and biology, an "excrescence" refers to an unnatural, often unsightly, growth or enlargement on an organism, such as a wart, tumor, or cyst.
   • A protruding part; a noticeable bulge or projection: More generally, it can describe any part that sticks out prominently from a surface, often with a negative connotation of being an ugly or superfluous addition.

Examples of Usage

• Noun:
  • The surgeon removed the excrescence from the patient's skin.
  • The old tree was covered in knotted excrescences.
  • The architect criticized the new tower as a mere excrescence on the city's skyline.

Advanced Usage

• Used figuratively to describe something perceived as an ugly, unnecessary, or parasitic addition:
  • The garish neon sign was seen as an excrescence on the historic building's facade.
  • He viewed the new regulations as bureaucratic excrescences that hindered progress.

Variants and Related Words

• Excrescent (adj): Pertaining to, forming, or of the nature of an excrescence; superfluous.
  • The excrescent tissue required further examination.
  • The editor cut the excrescent paragraphs from the manuscript.

Synonyms

• Outgrowth
• Protuberance
• Bulge
• Prominence
• Growth (specifically for abnormal biological growths)
• Appendage (when implying an unnecessary addition)

Related Phrases and Idioms

• "An excrescence on the body politic": A literary or rhetorical phrase describing a corrupt or harmful element within a society or system.
  • The scandal was an excrescence on the body politic that needed to be excised.

Noun

1. (pathology) an abnormal outgrowth or enlargement of some part of the body
2. something that bulges out or is protuberant or projects from its surroundings
   • the gun in his pocket made an obvious bulge
   • the hump of a camel
   • he stood on the rocky prominence
   • the occipital protuberance was well developed
   • the bony excrescence between its horns